Fitting Inspired Arcade Cranks

[Wantedinspiredarcade]

Hey guys I’ve bought the Inspired Arcade crankset to go on my Arcade frame.... I’m stuck with what to do with the 4 washers that come with the pack? Two small two slightly bigger (depth not diameter) and there’s also a tube thing that comes with the bottom bracket... two questions, firstly do I need to use any of the washers? I’ve tried looking online and can’t see anything specific to Arcade frame / Arcade cranks... and secondly do I pop the small tube thing inside the BB? Or do the cranks just guide and sit on the BB screw in cup things? I’m new to building bikes obviously hahah Cheers 

[TomWood]

I'm not familiar with the Arcade crank-set specifically, but I've built up quite a few bikes.

Cranks and BBs are the sloppiest excuse for a "standard" I've ever seen. The washers that come with the BB are spacers because they know that the BB and BB shell widths have a large margin of error. What I would do if I didn't get any further guidance is install the BB, then install the crank-set without any washers. Check for axial play in the cranks. If there is play, add a spacer; check for play again. Rise. Repeat till there is no play. Check again, if the crank is binding, then you've used too many or too thick of a spacer and need to reducing the spacing. Usually they get added to the non-drive side, as the drive side should remain in position for best chain line. 

The tube that comes with the BB is usually a sleeve just to keep any crap that falls into the frame out of the way. The crank spindle is narrower than the internal diameter of the sleeve, correct?

Hopefully someone that's actually installed the Arcade crank can verify this. Just saying again that I've never see the Arcade crank in person. But washers and sleeves are pretty common on the MTB/road side of things. 

[Ali C]

It's been a while since I've fitted Arcade cranks so I can't remember the specifics but if I remember correctly you don't need any spacers on the bb threads (like fitting a 73mm bb to a 68mm shell)...the tube goes in the middle of the bb and stops the bearings from binding and the rest of the spacers are used to centre the cranks so the arms are equal distance from each chainstay.

[Mark W]

23 hours ago, TomWood said:

I'm not familiar with the Arcade crank-set specifically, but I've built up quite a few bikes.

Cranks and BBs are the sloppiest excuse for a "standard" I've ever seen. The washers that come with the BB are spacers because they know that the BB and BB shell widths have a large margin of error. What I would do if I didn't get any further guidance is install the BB, then install the crank-set without any washers. Check for axial play in the cranks. If there is play, add a spacer; check for play again. Rise. Repeat till there is no play. Check again, if the crank is binding, then you've used too many or too thick of a spacer and need to reducing the spacing. Usually they get added to the non-drive side, as the drive side should remain in position for best chain line. 

The tube that comes with the BB is usually a sleeve just to keep any crap that falls into the frame out of the way. The crank spindle is narrower than the internal diameter of the sleeve, correct?

Hopefully someone that's actually installed the Arcade crank can verify this. Just saying again that I've never see the Arcade crank in person. But washers and sleeves are pretty common on the MTB/road side of things. 

None of that is particularly applicable to the Arcade cranks.

The spacers and washers are to switch it from either 68mm or 73mm (as is the case for most spacers for almost all BBs/cranksets - there are a few different width shells brands use, so it'll take that into account arther than "margin of error" on construction), and to take into account chainline and so on.

The internal spacer is also crucial as that's what prevents sideloading the bearings. On MTB/Road setups they're typically more to just prevent the ingress of dirt/water, but on this BMX style of BB, they provide support for the inner race of the bearings. 

For the thinner/smaller washers, these are just to get enough clearance for your frame. It's pretty hard to get that element of it wrong as such - the tension in the BB bearing is handled by the inner tube spacer and the crank bolts. Those washers are more to finesse crank positioning. There's enough overlap on the crank (or cranks on the V1 crankset) that you don't really need to worry about the crank bolt (or bolts) bottoming out.

[TomWood]

3 hours ago, Mark W said:

None of that is particularly applicable to the Arcade cranks.

The spacers and washers are to switch it from either 68mm or 73mm (as is the case for most spacers for almost all BBs/cranksets - there are a few different width shells brands use, so it'll take that into account arther than "margin of error" on construction), and to take into account chainline and so on.

The internal spacer is also crucial as that's what prevents sideloading the bearings. On MTB/Road setups they're typically more to just prevent the ingress of dirt/water, but on this BMX style of BB, they provide support for the inner race of the bearings. 

For the thinner/smaller washers, these are just to get enough clearance for your frame. It's pretty hard to get that element of it wrong as such - the tension in the BB bearing is handled by the inner tube spacer and the crank bolts. Those washers are more to finesse crank positioning. There's enough overlap on the crank (or cranks on the V1 crankset) that you don't really need to worry about the crank bolt (or bolts) bottoming out.

Ah yeah. BMX cranks...

Don’t have any real experience with those. Glad you two could offer more useful advice. 

[Wantedinspiredarcade]

On 11/08/2020 at 5:11 PM, Mark W said:

None of that is particularly applicable to the Arcade cranks.

The spacers and washers are to switch it from either 68mm or 73mm (as is the case for most spacers for almost all BBs/cranksets - there are a few different width shells brands use, so it'll take that into account arther than "margin of error" on construction), and to take into account chainline and so on.

The internal spacer is also crucial as that's what prevents sideloading the bearings. On MTB/Road setups they're typically more to just prevent the ingress of dirt/water, but on this BMX style of BB, they provide support for the inner race of the bearings. 

For the thinner/smaller washers, these are just to get enough clearance for your frame. It's pretty hard to get that element of it wrong as such - the tension in the BB bearing is handled by the inner tube spacer and the crank bolts. Those washers are more to finesse crank positioning. There's enough overlap on the crank (or cranks on the V1 crankset) that you don't really need to worry about the crank bolt (or bolts) bottoming out.

Thanks a lot for your help Mark I really appreciate it  so if I can just clarify with you (haha...) I have a tube spacer thing, two 1mm washers,  two 3mm washer,  a another small split washer that looks like a reducer, and two cover things for the screw on BB parts,  I’ll add I pic below...  so Ive now put the inner tube spacer thing in between the screw on bb pieces, so it’s now trapped inside the bb shell (see pics) and the crank spindle fits through nice and smoothly... so now for the 1mm and 3mm washers... these are just to position or align the cranks evenly / lined up with the chain line? Is this correct? When I put the cranks in with no washers the arm rotates fine but the chain ring looks like it’s super close the frame, so I use the washers to bump it out more I guess? 

[Wantedinspiredarcade]

On 10/08/2020 at 5:52 PM, Ali C said:

It's been a while since I've fitted Arcade cranks so I can't remember the specifics but if I remember correctly you don't need any spacers on the bb threads (like fitting a 73mm bb to a 68mm shell)...the tube goes in the middle of the bb and stops the bearings from binding and the rest of the spacers are used to centre the cranks so the arms are equal distance from each chainstay.

Thanks again Ali, finding your YouTube videos of you riding the Arcade is the reason I’ve bought one !!! 

[Mark W]

On 13/08/2020 at 1:50 PM, Wantedinspiredarcade said:

Thanks a lot for your help Mark I really appreciate it  so if I can just clarify with you (haha...) I have a tube spacer thing, two 1mm washers,  two 3mm washer,  a another small split washer that looks like a reducer, and two cover things for the screw on BB parts,  I’ll add I pic below...  so Ive now put the inner tube spacer thing in between the screw on bb pieces, so it’s now trapped inside the bb shell (see pics) and the crank spindle fits through nice and smoothly... so now for the 1mm and 3mm washers... these are just to position or align the cranks evenly / lined up with the chain line? Is this correct? When I put the cranks in with no washers the arm rotates fine but the chain ring looks like it’s super close the frame, so I use the washers to bump it out more I guess? 

The split washer is to go on the inside of the chainring. That's what makes it compatible with either 19mm or 22mm axles.

From memory, you'll need one conical spacer and one thin spacer each side, but realistically if there's chainring and crank clearance you're pretty much good to go. They're not as 'fiddly' to set up as things like the Hope cranks where if you get the spacing wrong your cranks explode. 

[Wantedinspiredarcade]

On 14/08/2020 at 5:42 PM, Mark W said:

The split washer is to go on the inside of the chainring. That's what makes it compatible with either 19mm or 22mm axles.

From memory, you'll need one conical spacer and one thin spacer each side, but realistically if there's chainring and crank clearance you're pretty much good to go. They're not as 'fiddly' to set up as things like the Hope cranks where if you get the spacing wrong your cranks explode. 

Nice one Mark W, thanks for your help. It all makes sense now